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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJenna Bush Hager Just Revealed She Had An Ectopic Pregnancy
This is an important story to tell, and I'm glad that Jenna Bush Hager survived this and was still able to have children. That's not how it works out for every woman, and there are very active forces in our country working against women's health right now:
Story from Women's Health
While talking to Meredith Viera (who's filling in for Hoda Kotb while she's out caring for her new baby), Jenna revealed her first pregnancy was actually an ectopic pregnancy.
* * *
Some women are more likely to experience ectopic pregnancy, including those who have had a previous ectopic pregnancy, or previous pelvic or abdominal surgery. Women with pelvic inflammatory disease or endometriosis also have increased risk for ectopic pregnancies, along with women who smoke, are older than 35, and have a history of infertility or have used in vitro fertilization.
The only way to treat an ectopic pregnancy is by terminating the pregnancy through medication or surgery, per the ACOG. In Jenna's case, she went through emergency surgery to treat her ectopic pregnancy. "I went into emergency surgery and I had my fallopian tube removed," she said.
Pop quiz: Notice any word conspicuous by its absence in this excerpt?
brewens
(13,588 posts)riversedge
(70,239 posts)pro-lifers, it is a 'human life'. Must be treated --so it is aborted surgically. Most women lose one of their tubes.
My guess is that the RW would not call this an abortion (to save the life of the woman)--
brewens
(13,588 posts)My buddies wife was good friends with his wife, and by all accounts, they would have had ten or more kids rather than just the two, if she had not been on birth control for many years.
He wasn't thinking of introducing such a bill, but I was busting his balls over it! I was telling him that if you believe all the other abortion crap, might as well go all the way. But that's retroactive. If you call the pill an abortion now, that means millions of women have been having billions of abortions all those years!
corbettkroehler
(1,898 posts)That's what it will take to block this antediluvian folly once and for all.
misanthrope
(7,417 posts)the woman in the scenario is wealthy and white.
corbettkroehler
(1,898 posts)When opponents of reproductive freedom are confronted with this important realities, they usually change the subject.
Although I think her father was the second-worst president in American history, I sympathize with her plight. Surgery is tough enough but her situation was far worse, medically, psychologically and socially because of the attitude of many of her family's conservative members and friends.
I wonder what her late paternal grandmother would say if asked whether undergoing this surgery to save her life made her a bad person or sinner?
misanthrope
(7,417 posts)I'd say she would have a lot of sympathy for her granddaughter while supporting her decision.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/03/how-barbara-bush-decided-she-was-pro-choice/585589/
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,355 posts)There are those in the "abolish abortion" movement who say people with ectopic pregnancies just need to go on bed rest and let nature take its course.
demigoddess
(6,641 posts)implant itself outside the uterus. Or do they think an embryo has no link to the uterus. It just floats there? I am amazed at the scientific ignorance of some Americans. Some people actually believe that handicapped children whose genetics are damaged were made that way by an attempted abortion or something the mother did.
Volaris
(10,271 posts)That woman should go away and die, and not make me or my white jesus think about that.
Infuriating .
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,355 posts)treat someone who has an ectopic pregnancy and protect their fertility as they see fit. I'm pro-stuff-that-does-that, and abortion is one of those things.
tymorial
(3,433 posts)When a pregnancy is wanted but must be ended, terminate is sometimes opted rather than abortion. We needed to end two pregnancies for different reasons and terminate was used by both the providers and by us. Both times were absolutely devastating to us and to this day she feels guilty as if she was somehow the cause. She has worked through that with help but it's still difficult for us to discuss with each other let alone other. Terminate softens the langauge and helps emotionally.
I have observed this with my patients as well.
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,355 posts)termination/abortion is what leads to the idea that some abortions are better, more valid or more necessary than others, when all it comes down to is whether a person doesn't want to be pregnant anymore or not.
CCExile
(469 posts)can all the abortions or terminations they want at any time, and it will always be that way, even in a Dominionist utopia.
Dawson Leery
(19,348 posts)Takket
(21,573 posts)And say she should have died rather than face an abortion.
MFM008
(19,814 posts)She said it was agonizing.
kskiska
(27,045 posts)(possibly TIME Magazine) where she remarked that some of the extremely premature children in incubators shouldn't even be there.
Ohiogal
(32,002 posts)that recently occurred to the daughter of my best friend.
Friend's daughter was diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy last December. Her physician advised termination by injection of a drug.
The only hospital in our town is a Catholic one, and they REFUSED TO PERFORM this treatment her doctor prescribed.
We had another hospital in town for over 50 years that was not religiously affiliated, but, unfortunately, they closed down last summer.
My friend's daughter was fortunate that there's another hospital about 15 miles away that is secular and she was able to go there and have her pregnancy terminated.
Now -- tell me -- what do women do who have ectopic pregnancies who cannot get treatment from a Catholic hospital and there's no other hospital nearby? Does the Catholic policy say "sorry, dear, you have to die, because that clump of cells clogging up your tube is more important to our religion than YOUR life"????
I am still shaking while typing this, I get so mad about it! It's so totally unfair and wrong!
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,355 posts)in which the fetus still has a heartbeat. They will remove a dead fetus. There doesn't seem to be clear teachings on how to get that heartbeat to stop and in many cases it's left up to the physician, leading to a lot of unnecessary pain and cruelty.
Dave Starsky
(5,914 posts)llmart
(15,540 posts)She almost died. Both ended in having her tubes removed. She said it was the most painful thing she'd ever gone through. Also, she's a religious person who voted for Trump and claims she's pro-life.
These kinds of people have an inability to see their own hypocrisy. They have a way of rationalizing what they do, but passing judgment on others for their choices.
sdfernando
(4,935 posts)ismnotwasm
(41,985 posts)Shell get hate mail and threats from disgusting right wingers